Nathan Ake heads back to Stamford Bridge for the first time following his £20m move to Bournemouth as they take on Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday.
The Belgian defender, who spent the first half of last season on loan with Eddie Howe’s side, was deemed surplus to requirements by Antonio Conte over the summer, and became the Cherries’ club-record signing.
The 22-year-old forced his way into Conte’s thinking towards the end of last season, having been recalled from the south coast in January, and impressed playing 90 minutes against Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final win.
Therefore, going back to west London, Ake feels he’s got nothing to prove.
“I had a good time there so it will be good to be back,” he told The Sun.
“But I’m not going there to prove myself or anything like that.
“It’s just a game, a big game for us. We want to go to the semi-final and that’s what I want to think about, not about other things.”
Ake, though, admitted that Sunday’s 4-0 defeat to Liverpool was probably the ‘worst we have played in the Premier League,’ but is backing the side to turn things around and book their place in the semi-final.
He added: “We’ve done it before — we had bad games last season and, the game after, we turned it around.
“So I think it’s good we have a game already.
“It will be difficult as Chelsea are not a small club. But to get to the semi-final would be really big for Bournemouth.”
